Midnight Run

Midnight Run (1988) – It’s reasonably amusing (Grodin, mostly), and the relatively strong character focus and quality performances breathe some life into the old stock odd-couple script. 6

Summer Wars

Summer Wars (2009) – The online world looks interesting, but the goofy tone of this film is all wrong, and the family drama, romance, and sci-fi elements are all half-baked; likewise, the characters may be realistic (in contrast to their cliched drama-queen anime mannerisms), but none is particularly endearing. 5

Oblivion (2013)

Oblivion (2013) – This is a good-looking post-apoc that’s compelling because of its strong characters and good performances, although it’s fairly predictable, and the action scenes, which are largely unimpressive, often feel forced. 6

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010) – With imaginative style and story elements and a barely coherent plot that plays a distant second fiddle to the visuals, this is a fever dream of cartoon action, dazzling but only moderately satisfying. 6

The Final Cut

The Final Cut (2004) – It’s a thoughtful treatment of its subject (enough to overlook all the unmentioned deal-breaking privacy and confidentiality issues), it’s poignant at times, and Williams is impressively subdued, but the film is just too low-key, due in large part to Naim’s underdeveloped supporting characters and subplots. 6

The Warrior’s Way

The Warrior’s Way (2010) – This is ludicrous ninja action on terrible green screen at its finest: Geoffrey Rush must have been putting in a pool or something; still, it has a good setting and a fair number of good moments (most of which are in the last thirty minutes), although not enough to make up for the many boring and dumb and just plain bad ones. 5